Second Hope (Jacob Black) [2]

9. Howl

~Jazmine~

I open my eyes and look around. No sign of the beast or Ryder. I climb to my feet and slide my daggers into the holster. I grab the arrows and flip out of the trees to retrieve my bow and quiver. I put the arrows back into the quiver and throw it over my shoulder, carrying the bow in my hand. The sun barely peaks through the trees. I hear distant wolves howls and turn around before walking back toward Billy's. I make sure to take soft enough steps not to be heard by Ryder if he's still out here. I hear leaves crunch behind me and draw back an arrow aiming it in the direction.

"Easy! It's just me!" Sam yells holding his hands up. I lower my bow and put the arrow back into my quiver. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Somewhere out here, going after the beast." I turn back around and start walking toward Billy's.

"Looks like you had one hell of a fight." He says.

"A teenage girl against a gigantic beast, of course it's gonna be a hell of a fight." I scoff.

"That's probably going to take a long time to heal, Jazmine." He states. I stop walking and turn to face the wolf.

"What do you mean?" I growl. He gapes at me for a moment before returning to reality.

"You've got a hell of a scratch on your back." Sam slightly steps forward.

"I figured, he through me into a tree, that's why I didn't come back. I was out of it." I state turning and heading back to Billy's again.

"You know that you're going to get questioned the second they catch up." He says.

"Embry and Quil maybe, but he's too busy with her." I sneer.

"You do realize that he had me take Bella back so he could search for you. He was out of it the whole time. Like when you first found out that he phased and him and Paul got into it. You sat there and stared out the window waiting for him to randomly appear hoping that nothing had happen. He stared into the woods the whole time just waiting for you to come out perfectly fine." Sam states.

"Don't lie, Sam." I order not stopping.

"I'm telling the truth Jazmine, I'm the only thing that kept him from running out before we were sure that you'd taken care of the beast." He continues.

"How would you know that?" I ask.

"You both stopped howling." He replies. I stop dead in my tracks.

"Howling?" I breathe.

"Like wolves do." He clarifies. I start walking yet again. My feet slightly drag at first, then my pace lightly picks up. I jump up into a tree and walk through them. I pick up my pace and flip out of the last one.

"Jazmine!?!" A voice beems. I spin around to see Jake running toward me. He lifts me up and spins me around. He runs his hand through my lightly tangled hair. "Are you okay?" He asks. I nod.

"Y-yeah. I'm okay." I stutter.

"You stuttered." He states. "What's wrong?"

"Jake, I'm okay. It's just a scratch." I peer into his eyes.

"It's more than just a scratch, you've always been a terrible lyer, especially when you try to lie to me." Jake rests his forehead against mine. I press my lips against his and pull back slowly. "How badly are you hurt?" He asks.

"I dunno." I shrug. "He through my into a tree hard enough to knock me out cold."

"Come on, let's go inside." Jake sighs.